You waste two days a year waiting for websites to load

According to research released today by 1&1 Internet Ltd, www.1and1.co.uk, a global leader amongst web hosting providers, slow running and unreliable websites are still a major gripe for British Internet users. With 71 per cent of UK web users regularly inconvenienced by slow running websites, they continue to cause negative emotions. The extent of consumer annoyance is hardly surprising when we consider the average Briton estimates that they waste 9 minutes every day, or 2 days a year, waiting for slow websites to load. As a result, 1&1 advises UK firms that choosing a fast and robust hosting provider has never been so important.

1&1’s ‘Need for Speed Survey’(1) finds that most UK web users are still regularly inconvenienced by slow running websites. Over half (59 per cent) see large variations in the speed and reliability of the websites which they use. The data suggests that consumers have felt little improvement since 1&1 last conducted the study exactly 5 years ago, which found a wastage of 10 minutes per day. As in 2007, the citizens of Northern Ireland remain the most affected.

A total of 78 per cent of consumers have felt negative emotions as a result of a slow or unreliable website. Women appear more affected by related stress or anger, 34 per cent as compared to 27 per cent for men. On average 31 per cent of Britons admit that related stress or anger has increased over the past 5 years. Half of consumers believe that websites have either not improved in speed or have become slower over the past 5 years. Doubts over whether a slow online transaction has been successful are experienced by 44 per cent of UK consumers. Whilst men may suffer less emotionally, they are perhaps more judgmental on the issue. Some 42 per cent of men and 35 per cent of women have decided not to use a company again as a result of an overly slow website.

The strength of consumers’ reaction is indicative of their awareness of what slows websites down. Over the past 5 years, 37 per cent of web users believe that they have become better able to judge whether a website is running more slowly than it should. Respondents point to more attractive designs and more complex features as contributing to slow loading speeds. Only 1 in 4 web users believe that the websites they use are getting faster each year.

“Oliver Mauss, CEO 1&1 Internet, said “There is no doubt that slow loading and unreliable websites remain an inconvenience to many. Whilst consumers can ensure their own super fast connection, if website owners do not host their sites effectively, the web experience will suffer. Consumers appreciate the benefits felt from industry-leading connectivity and geo-redundancy offered by large web hosts like 1&1”.

It appears that Britons are more affected than some other Europeans. In Spain, only 60 per cent complain of slow running websites, and the average time wasted is slightly better at 8.5 minutes every day. German web users appear to have a faster experience. In Germany, only 44 per cent complain of slow running websites, and the average time wasted is lowest at 5.5 minutes per day.

1&1 web hosting packages, available from £2.99/month+VAT, benefit from optimal uptime and super fast 275 Gbit/sec connectivity, via the company’s own pan-European and global backbones. Furthermore, 1&1 Dual Hosting means a new dimension of resilience as every online presence exists in parallel in two different high performance data centres at the same time.

Mauss added, “Consumers have never been so aware and unforgiving of slow running websites. If a website does not meet their expectations, users will switch to an alternative. Firms must be aware that their choice of hosting provider has never been so important. Those that fail to leverage the fastest possible bandwidth and most reliable hosting platforms risk losing revenue and reputation”.

As a global leader among web hosts, 1&1 is well placed to deliver a high quality service to its customers. The company currently holds over 10.5 million customer contracts worldwide and manages 11 million domain names. For more information visit the website at www.1and1.co.uk.

1 thought on “You waste two days a year waiting for websites to load”

Wonderful .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds also? I’m satisfied to find a lot of useful information right here within the post, we want work out extra strategies on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .

Comments are closed.

About Graham Jones

I am a psychologist who specialises in Internet use and behaviour. I can help your business profit through a better understanding of the online behaviour of your customers and potential clients.

Web Masterclasses

Discover how your business can use the power of psychology to sell more online. With my series of half-day internet psychology workshops you'll find out just how you can make more money online, no matter what size or type of business you run. There are workshops on marketing, sales, pricing and content strategy. You can also have workshops designed specifically for your needs.

Internet Coaching

Get yourself coached to make more money online. Using my telephone coaching service for online business owners you can discover how to use the power of psychology to improve your online business and understand the behaviour of your web customers so you can sell more. Click Here for full details.

Disclosures and copyrights

Affiliate Links: Some of the links in this website are affiliate links providing me with a small commission when you purchase an item. I only use affiliate links for products which I personally value.

Amazon: I am a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.

Cookies To make this site work properly, small data files called cookies need to be placed on your device. Most websites do this.Read more

Accept

Read more

Cookies Settings

Cookie Box Settings

Cookie Box Settings

Privacy settings

Decide which cookies you want to allow.You can change these settings at any time. However, this can result in some functions no longer being available. For information on deleting the cookies, please consult your browser’s help function.Learn more about the cookies we use.

With the slider, you can enable or disable different types of cookies:

Block all

Essentials

Functionality

Analytics

Advertising

This website will

Essential: Remember your cookie permission setting

Essential: Allow session cookies

Essential: Gather information you input into a contact forms newsletter and other forms across all pages

Essential: Keep track of what you input in a shopping cart

Essential: Authenticate that you are logged into your user account

Essential: Remember language version you selected

This website won't

Remember your login details

Functionality: Remember social media settings

Functionality: Remember selected region and country

Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken

Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number

Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page

Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions

Advertising: Tailor information and advertising to your interests based on e.g. the content you have visited before. (Currently we do not use targeting or targeting cookies)

Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location

This website will

Essential: Remember your cookie permission setting

Essential: Allow session cookies

Essential: Gather information you input into a contact forms newsletter and other forms across all pages

Essential: Keep track of what you input in a shopping cart

Essential: Authenticate that you are logged into your user account

Essential: Remember language version you selected

Functionality: Remember social media settings

Functionality: Remember selected region and country

This website won't

Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken

Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number

Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page

Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions

Advertising: Tailor information and advertising to your interests based on e.g. the content you have visited before. (Currently we do not use targeting or targeting cookies)

Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location

This website will

Essential: Remember your cookie permission setting

Essential: Allow session cookies

Essential: Gather information you input into a contact forms newsletter and other forms across all pages

Essential: Keep track of what you input in a shopping cart

Essential: Authenticate that you are logged into your user account

Essential: Remember language version you selected

Functionality: Remember social media settings

Functionality: Remember selected region and country

Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken

Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number

Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page

Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions

This website won't

Advertising: Tailor information and advertising to your interests based on e.g. the content you have visited before. (Currently we do not use targeting or targeting cookies)

Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location

This website will

Functionality: Remember social media settings

Functionality: Remember selected region and country

Analytics: Keep track of your visited pages and interaction taken

Analytics: Keep track about your location and region based on your IP number

Analytics: Keep track of the time spent on each page

Analytics: Increase the data quality of the statistics functions

Advertising: Tailor information and advertising to your interests based on e.g. the content you have visited before. (Currently we do not use targeting or targeting cookies)

Advertising: Gather personally identifiable information such as name and location